different kinds of books on bookshelves

Course Schedules

Course Descriptions

Appreciating Carl Sandburg – NEW

For much of the 20th Century, Carl Sandburg, if not The Voice of America, was one of the significant and honored voices. How does what he wrote hold up in the 21st Century? In his profound choreography between innocence and experience, where is his voice fresh, timeless, and universal, and what has moved in the direction of cultural amnesia? We will interactively read selected poems. Bring a copy of The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg.

Backyard Chickens

Learn to house chickens at home. It’s that time of year when chicks are at the feed store and if you want to know what is required to get started, then this course is for you. You’ll learn how to care for the chicks, coop requirements, basic breeds, and potential problems. You’ll be walked through the entire process of how to be a successful chicken owner.

Container Gardening

Learn to make a great container garden for the porch or yard. From modest to elaborate, the possibilities are endless. You will learn about soil, water, and container size. You will make a small garden to take home at the end of class with plants that will be available to be potted. Bring a flower pot with soil to class.

Geology of North Carolina

Learn why our region is blessed with spectacular mountains, gorges, waterfalls, caves, beaches, and mineral riches. Explore how colliding tectonic plates built our rocky foundations; landslides and other erosional processes sculpt our landscape; stream floods transport debris to the sea; and violent storms constantly reshape our coastline. What do these phenomena tell you about changing land elevation, sea level and climate? Understand how our geology promote wise land-use decisions regarding shifting shorelines in the east, possible fracking for natural gas in the Piedmont, and development of our steep mountain slopes. Finally, tools developed throughout the course will help you tackle a great geologic enigma: the Age of the Appalachians.

Letters: Unlock Your Writing Skills – NEW

Learn why letters are forgotten in today’s phone mania and unlock your writing skills. You text messages all the time, but do not write personal letters. Gain an understanding about the untapped market for more personal communication.

Concealed Carry Handgun Training

Learn the legal issues around a concealed carry permit, handgun safety, proper storage, types of handguns, how to properly clean and maintain a handgun and so much more in the NC Concealed Carry Handgun (CCH) NCDOJ Standard Course. The registration fee includes the State DOJ CCH Training guide and other materials needed for this class. No guns or live ammunition are allowed to be brought to campus for this course.

Our Projected Selves – NEW

Explore how movies provide cultural enrichment and entertainment throughout our lives. Let’s ask the question: what do movies tell us about ourselves? What do our preferences for actors and stories reveal about us? You’ll use the cinematic lens to understand your psychological and personal projections onto characters and dramatized events and plots. You’ll also look at important themes, such as the universality of the masculine-feminine principle, the higher self and its shadow, and the eternal search for happiness. Carefully chosen full-length movies will be shown in class to illustrate how meaningfully these universal themes animate psychological and cultural life.

Self-Publishing for Fun and Profit

Learn to turn your personal written and/or photographic work into a professional-looking book and eBook available for sale. This class will help both the creative and editing process as well as address the steps necessary to self-publish your masterpiece. If you already have your transcript prepared or just thinking about undertaking the process, this class is for you.

Seneca, Then and Now! – NEW

Learn more about Seneca, the Roman Stoic philosopher and classically trained scholar who lived in the First Century A.D., speaks to us with eternal truths across the centuries. In more than 100 personal letters to a young disciple, Seneca presents the stoic response to social and psychological challenges to moral integrity. He advises on how to healthfully balance the powers of reason, emotion, and the pull between fate and free will. You will interactively read and discuss a selection of his letters, bringing to life Seneca’s wisdom for the ages. Please bring to class a copy of Letters from a Stoic by Seneca (Penguin Classics edition, translated by Robin Campbell).

What House Style Is That?

Learn to identify elements of popular architectural building styles seen on America’s and Western North Carolina’s streets and place the buildings in the proper historical era.

The Oedipus Cycle: To See or Not to See – NEW

Learn more about literature and psychology, the figure of Oedipus represents a crossroads between conscious awareness and unconscious, yet powerfully influential, psychological forces.

 

Contact Us

Blue Ridge Community College
Continuing Education/Personal Interest:

Paula Wynn
Henderson County Campus
Continuing Education Program Specialist
(828) 694-1742
pe_wynn@blueridge.edu

M.C. Gaylord
Transylvania County Campus
Continuing Education Program Specialist
(828) 694-1910
m_gaylord@blueridge.edu